Transcript

00:00:01

>> Simmering tensions between the U.S. and Turkey spilling into a second week over the ugly melee that broke out last week in the streets of Washington between protesters and security forces traveling with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Ankara on Monday summoning the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey to lodge a formal protest and demanding a full investigation.

00:00:20

Deputy Foreign Policy Editor, Yara Bayoumy.>> The incident that happened in Washington D.C. last week during Erdogan's visit, comes really, against a backdrop of an escalation in tensions between Turkey and the United States, specifically over the war in Syria.>> The Turks blame the violence on protesters linked to the PKK, a Kurdish separatist group Turkey regards as a terrorist organization.

00:00:44

Ankara has pushed back fiercely on a US decision to arm Kurdish forces fighting ISIL in Syria. Images on social media appear to show Erdogan's security forces bloodying unarmed demonstrators outside the Turkish embassy. But on Monday, the Turks citing what they said were quote aggressive and unprofessional actions by US law enforcement against the security protecting Turkey's foreign minister.

00:01:07

>> It's a great honor>> President Donald Trump's decision to host Erdogan in the Oval Office over objections from human rights groups viewed as an attempt to boost ties as Trump ramps up the fight against Islamic State.>> At the end of the day, Turkey is a very much needed ally for the United States.

00:01:22

The US has a very strategic base there which it uses to conduct a lot of operations in its air campaign against ISIS as well. So there's a lot of stake for the two countries to maintain a good relationship.>> All this coming as Turkish NBA star Enes Kanter returns to America, after being blocked from entering Romania due to his home country cancelling his passport.

00:01:49

Kanter is a long time supporter of Fethullah Gulan, a Pennsylvania based Muslim preacher whom Erdogan has blamed for last year's failed coup.